Lean Coffee Talk is a podcast hosted by Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh — authors, speakers, and longtime leaders in the Lean community. Each episode explores practical ideas about Lean leadership, continuous improvement, organizational culture, problem solving, and customer value.
The conversations blend real-world experience from healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and service organizations with reflections on leadership, management mistakes, and what actually works when building high-performing systems.
Unlike scripted interviews, Lean Coffee Talk follows a flexible “Lean Coffee” format — a structured but open discussion driven by questions, observations, and current challenges facing leaders today.
Whether you’re new to Lean or deeply experienced, the goal is simple: share insights that help organizations improve faster, think more clearly, and create better outcomes for customers and employees.
In Episode 12 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban is back and he’s joined by a friend from the Lean healthcare world, Ryan McCormack. Jamie will be with Mark for our next episode. You might know Ryan as the creator of…
In Episode 11 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban gets a rest, and Jamie Flinchbaugh co-hosts along with long-time friend and colleague Susan Pleasant, who was first a client and later a partner. Susan brings 30 years of operations experience, and…
In Episode 10 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh do their best to work through technology issues, as the Grinch clearly didn’t want us to record. We apologize if this affected the final product just a little bit,…
It’s great to have Jamie Flinchbaugh back for another episode of the Lean Whiskey podcast. We linked up on Halloween night to share a drink and ideas about lean. We discuss air travel, which we both experience in volume, and…
We have a new guest host for Episode #8 of Lean Whiskey. I’m joined by my friend and colleague Cristal Totterman and we’re drinking gin today on her recommendation… so this is “Lean Gin.” We’re also enjoying what Cristal calls…
It’s two episodes in a row with Jamie Flinchbaugh, as we’re both back for Episode #7 of the Lean Whiskey podcast. This Sunday, I’ll be recording Episode #8 with another guest host, my friend Cristal Totterman who does Lean work…
After the last episode with guest host Paul Critchley, I’m once again joined by Jamie Flinchbaugh for another “Lean Whiskey” podcast. In Episode 6 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh explore two icons as leaders and the impact…
Hi, it’s episode 5 of our “Lean Whiskey” podcast where we mostly talk about Lean and maybe chat just little bit about whiskey. Joining me today is a guest host, my friend Paul Critchley. Paul has been a guest blogger…
After the last episode that had the first guest host (Chris Burnham), I’m once again joined by Jamie Flinchbaugh for another “Lean Whiskey” podcast. In Episode 4 of Lean Whiskey, Mark Graban and Jamie Flinchbaugh (and a cameo from his…
Jamie Flinchbaugh and I had a great time with the first two episodes of “Lean Whiskey.” Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, rated, and reviewed our podcast. Part of the original concept was to also sometimes have guest hosts (like…
Jamie Flinchbaugh and I got a great response to the first episode of our new “Lean Whiskey” podcast. We’ve had a great time with this, and I’m happy that anybody is willing to listen :-) We’ve done our second episode,…
I’ve owned the domain names LeanWhiskey.com and LeanWhisky.com for two years or so. That’s not because I was going to get into the whiskey business like former Toyota guy David Meier. I like Lean. I like Whiskey. I’ll figure out…